 So we're starting out in John chapter 10 and John chapter 10 is Jesus speaking for the majority of the chapter and he is speaking this parable. So this is not a story but a parable and I want to point out just to make a comment on parables. So Jesus spoke in parables a lot but let me just give you an example of, you know, a story is something where Jesus is talking specifically about or the Bible is talking specifically about an individual that did a certain thing or went a certain place. A story that actually happened, Luke 16 is a good example of that of the rich man that went to hell and then Lazarus who went to heaven. But parables, let me just make a comment on parables because a lot of people will teach a lot of false doctrine using parables. And parables are not to be interpreted literally, they are to be applied. So parables, that is kind of the Bible reading rule for parables. So a lot of people will say, well, is this talking about a say, they'll read a parable and they'll say, and I'm going to show you that kind of with the parable, the sower. And a lot of people will say with a parable, was this talking about a saved person or a not saved person. And really that's the wrong type of thinking to have towards a parable. The right type of thinking towards a parable is can this parable be applied to a saved person, for example, or can this be applied to an unsaved person, for example. And if not, if it can be applied successfully, that will mean that if it's applied successfully to a saved group of people or whatever, then it will match other clear doctrine in the Bible. So that's kind of the key for parables is there to be applied, not taken literally. So I'm going to kind of tell you what this parable applies to and it kind of applies to some, through some, and you'll see how it could apply to Jesus or pastors in one specific case at the beginning. But the key on whether or not you are interpreting or applying a parable correctly is does it match actual doctrine in the Bible, clear scriptural doctrine. So you're not to just grab a piece of a parable and run with it and make your own doctrine. You've got a poor way of interpreting the Bible and that's one way that a lot of people will teach a lot of false doctrine, a lot of works-based salvation, a lot of Calvinism and other heresies come from people just ripping one section out of a parable and teaching it as doctrine when they're clearly misinterpreting or I should say misapplying the parable because it clearly just contradicts clear doctrine in the Bible. What do you say? What is clear doctrine? Well Ephesians 2-8-9 that salvation is a gift, it is not of works, that is clear doctrine in the Bible. That's doctrine, that's not a parable, that is just straight, simple doctrine. So all that to say parables are to be applied and you'll know if they're applied correctly if they match other doctrine in the Bible. Now let's look down at John chapter 10 and look at this parable and what some things that we can take from it this evening. So John chapter 10, look at verse number one, Jesus says, verily verily I say unto you, he that now he just starts right into this parable, all right, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold but climbeth up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber, but he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. So in verse number 10 he's talking about people that are being subversive, people that are not doing things the right way, they're not teaching what Jesus is teaching, they're doing some other thing. This is the false prophet, this is the person teaching damnable heresies as we're going to look at a little bit this evening. But so we have somebody doing it wrong and then we have somebody doing it right entering in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 3, you say who is the shepherd of the sheep? Well obviously that can apply to Jesus but this first part of the parable can be applied to a couple of different things. Number one it can be applied to Jesus as Jesus is the chief shepherd of the flock. But look at Jeremiah chapter 23 and look at verse number one. Jeremiah 23, look at verse number one. The Bible says, we'll be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pastor, sayeth the Lord. Therefore, thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people, you have scattered my flock and driven them away, and have not visited them, behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doing, sayeth the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whether I have driven them and will bring them again to their folds and they shall be fruitful and increase. I will set up shepherds, look at this, over them which shall feed them. So you'll see here that pastors are actually, so we had some pastors that were not doing a good job in Jeremiah chapter 23 and then we had pastors that are going to be set up over the flock that are called shepherds over them. So the first part of the parable here in John chapter 10, all that to say this, could apply to Jesus who is the chief shepherd or as he calls himself the good shepherd or it could be applied to pastors. Really the first part of the verse is, or the first part of this parable is really talking about, well I won't give it away, but look at verse number 3 in John chapter 10. Go back to John chapter 10. It says to him the porter openeth. This is the pastor or even Jesus and the sheep hear his voice. So really the first part of this, the first part of this parable is talking, see it's actually kind of wrong, it's like well who specifically is the parable talking about? It's talking about somebody that is speaking the voice, that is speaking the word of God. Either that could be a pastor or it could be Jesus himself. So the first part of the parable is talking about somebody that is using or speaking, it's either the man of God or Jesus himself. It says, and the sheep hear his voice and he calleth his own sheep by name and leadeth them out. And when he put it forth, look at verse 4, his own sheep he goeth before them and the sheep follow him for they know what his voice, they know the word of God. They know the word of God being spoken by this shepherd whether it be an under shepherd or the chief shepherd himself. And a stranger will they not follow but will flee from him for they know not the voice of strangers. Speaking to, speaking about that verse number one, you know that person that was subversive, that person that wasn't speaking the voice of God. So here we have, you know, the Bible Jesus sings using this parable to say that there's going to be people that speak the word of God and people that are saved that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, they will recognize the voice of God is the main point that he's trying to get at here in verse number four, especially in verse number five, which is kind of going to be our main focus. But let's keep going through this parable. It says, this parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again. So now he's going to kind of continue with the same type of parable but he's kind of got a little bit of a twist to it again. He says, verily, verily I say unto you, I am the door. All right, so Jesus now, we see that up in the first part you're like, well, who is Jesus in the parable? Well, it's talking about the voice of the Lord, the word of God, someone that was speaking the word of God in the first part of the parable. So that's, it was an application of the word of God and people that are saved recognizing the word of God. That was the application. All right, now Jesus is saying something different in verse seven. He's saying, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them, again applying that first part of the parable. Again he says, I am the door. By me if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find a pastor. Now that is a profound verse right there in verse number nine because Jesus is saying like I am the door and what is he saying? If you come in through the door, he shall be saved. So what he's saying is I am the only way to salvation. That is what Jesus is saying. That's why he literally calls himself the door and then there was this focus on these people trying to get in another way. These people that were subverting, these people that, now he's talking about heretics, people that would change the gospel, people that would teach something different. He's saying I am the door, I am the only way. So when you go out soul winning, it's not oh you know Jesus plus this or whatever, no it is only Jesus and it is 100% Jesus and 0% anything else. That is the only way. So Jesus is literally teaching here that yes, people will recognize his voice that are saved and he is teaching I am the only way to salvation. That's not, like that's a divisive statement. That's a divisive statement today. People just want to oh I believe everything, everything's okay. No, Jesus came to divide. He's the only way to salvation and if you're not 100% Jesus, 100% trusting on Jesus, you're not saved meaning you are damned, you're going to go to hell. Alright, look at verse 10, the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and destroy, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. And then he says in verse 11, I am the good shepherd. So he's kind of the, he's the best, he's the, he's the only one that's good, right? We've already studied that. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep, talking about how he's literally going to die. Now I'm sure nobody understood this at this point, but he that is in hireling and not the shepherd, whose own sheep are not, seeeth the wolf coming and leave it the sheep and fleeeth. And the wolf catches them and scattereth the sheep. These are those pastors in Jeremiah chapter 23 that were just scattering the sheep. The hireling fleeeth because he is in hireling and careth not for the sheep. So what is it talking about here? What's an hireling? What's an hireling? It's somebody that, I mean he's talking about the false prophet that is making merchandise of people and hireling is somebody that is there for the money. They're there, they're hired for the money. And if it comes down to them having to sacrifice anything or especially give their life, they're out of there, man. And Jesus is saying, I am the good shepherd, I'm going to give my life for the sheep. Again, he says in verse 14, I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. So the sheep know him, they know his voice as he said up in the first part of the parable, as the father knoweth me, even so I know the father and lay down my life for the sheep. Again, predicting that he was going to die for the sins of mankind. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, this is interesting, them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. So here he's talking about bringing in the gentiles. He's talking, I mean there's a ton that I'm sure just went over everybody's head. The Bible literally says they didn't understand what he's talking about, but us, you know we have the whole Bible so we can understand what he's saying in this parable. But he's talking about, you know, there's other sheep, the gentiles are going to get saved as well, and as in, you know, Romans, the book of Romans talked about, you know, chapter 9 through 11, they're going to be grafted in, there's not going to be two folds of sheep, there's not going to be gentile sheep and Jew sheep, there's going to be, there's going to be neither Jew nor Greek, it's going to be one fold and one shepherd. So what I want to talk about tonight really, now that we understand this parable, what I want to talk about this evening is this idea up in verse number 4 and verse number 5 where he says, he puteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice, and the stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of strangers. I really want to like dig into that verse, what that means for us as saved believers. I want to look at this idea of knowing and unknowing the voice of the Lord, and this kind of brings up when I was studying through this, it brings up a question that some people will ask, and maybe you'll get this question out soul winning. A lot of times when you get this question, it is disingenuous, it is not a question that somebody really wants to know the answer to, they're just trying to catch you in, you know, in some kind of, you know, biblical quagmire, or they think that it's an unanswerable question, but I'm going to answer it tonight. And the question is, what if you stop believing? What if you stop believing? Because we're out there, we're teaching that you're saved only by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, by taking that belief in your heart, and putting it completely, that trust in your heart completely on Jesus Christ. What if you change your mind about that? What if you stop believing on Jesus Christ? Like I said, most times that people will ask you this question, they're not being genuine, they're trying to, you know, catch you, they're trying to, you know, poke fun at the gospel, whatever it is, but, you know, a question that I've honestly, it's kind of tied to this, that I honestly thought early on in my Christian life, I actually kind of had this question myself about how much heresy can a person believe and still be saved? And I'm going to answer that question for you this evening as well, using, you know, kind of starting out with verse number four and verse number five here, but I want to show you here, turn to Second Corinthians chapter number 11. Turn to Second Corinthians chapter number 11. I really want to, you know, when we look at somebody who we looked at as a, we considered to be a believer and then they fell out of the Christian life in one form or another, there's really only two scenarios that could have taken place there. All right, and I'm going to tell you which of these scenarios is the most common and which is not very common and then we'll kind of apply that to this question of what if you stop believing or how much heresy can you actually believe and still be saved? Which is kind of a wrong question in the first place, but we'll answer these kind of unanswerable questions this evening. Look down at Second Corinthians chapter 11 and look down at verse number three. So the first scenario, when you see somebody who's a brother in Christ or a sister in Christ and as we start these scenarios, let me just remind you that you can never really tell as a human being who is saved and who is not because you as a man and as a woman, you cannot see the heart, only God can see the heart. So I mean I am sure and I have no doubt that everyone in this church is saved, who professes to be saved, but if somebody in this church turns out to not be saved, like that wouldn't ruin my Christian life because I don't see the heart and you don't see the heart either, but when you see a Christian or someone that you considered a brother in Christ, like I said, that's not 100% guarantee that that person is saved, but I mean, you listen to what people say, even at the door, you just listen to what people say to kind of make that judgment whether they should hear the gospel or not, but when you see somebody who's considered a brother or sister in Christ and then they fall out of the Christian life in one form or another, there's only one of two scenarios and the first scenario is that they are fallen away, they are back to it and that they are saved, but they are just fallen out of the Christian life, that's the first scenario. Look down to 2nd Corinthians chapter number 11, look at verse number three. So in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11, he's talking to a group of people, he's talking to a church and many people misapply a lot of the things that they read in the epistles of Paul and 1st John, 2nd John because they're talking to groups of people and they're not necessarily talking to one saved person or one unsaved person. Look at verse number three where the Bible says, but I fear less by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds, he's talking to a saved group of people or a church where he assumes that people are saved. He's talking about so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. So here he's introducing this concept that people could be led astray. And look, that's all he's saying here. He's saying, I fear that you could be led astray in your Christian life. So from this verse, we can assume that a Christian can be led astray to some degree. And I'm gonna kind of show you what that degree is. Tonight, turn to 1st Timothy, chapter number four. 1st Timothy, chapter number four. 1st Timothy, chapter number four. And look at just verse number one of 1st Timothy, chapter number four. So look, I mean, we're speaking to groups of people here. We're speaking to groups of people here and Paul is explaining to Timothy, he's explaining to the church at Corinth that corruption can enter the local church. This is what he's warning about. Look at verse number one. He says, now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. So again, this is kind of just another example of the same thing. He is warning a church, a church leader in this case. He is warning Timothy that, hey, you know what? There could be a time, especially in the latter times, you know, when people just don't want to hear, sound doctrine, you know, the Bible talks about this in the end times, perilous times shall come. People, you know, they'll heap to themselves preachers, you know, they'll have itching ears, they won't want to hear the word of God. He's kind of warning Timothy this, but he's saying, some shall depart from the faith. What does that mean? It means, you know, corruption's gonna enter the church and it doesn't mean they're gonna not be saved anymore. He's talking that, you know, he's talking about they're gonna get dragged away with corrupt teaching. You say, well, what kind of corrupt teaching are we talking about? Will they start, you know, teaching a different gospel? You know, will people that are saved start teaching a different gospel? I'm gonna show you what that corrupt teaching is. Turn to 2 Peter chapter number two. Will they ever forget the voice? Will they ever forget the voice of Jesus? You know, all that I've read you is warnings from Paul, warnings from the Holy Spirit that corruption can enter the church and it can corrupt people and it can get people to fall away, to fall back, to get out of church, to get out of what they should be doing in their life. I don't wanna give it away, but turn to 2 Peter chapter number two. This is kind of like the quintessential false prophet chapter in the New Testament here, 2 Peter chapter number two, just to give you some context of what we're talking about, look at verse one of 2 Peter chapter number two. It says, but there were false prophets also among the people. So again, where were the false prophets? They were in there. I mean, they were in the congregation. You know, the Bible's warning again and again. It says, even as there shall be false teachers among you, like literally among the church who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. So there's gonna be people that come into the local church teaching false gospels. That's what Paul is saying here. And he's saying they're gonna bring on to destruction hook. They're gonna bring on to themselves destruction. Look, if they're saved people in the church, they can't bring you to spiritual destruction. They can destroy your Christian life, but they can't bring you to spiritual destruction. So the context of the chapter, you're gonna go down to verse number 18, verse number 19 for sake of time. But just the context of the chapter is false teachers, false prophets in the congregation, okay? What are we talking about? Just, I don't wanna lose everyone here. We're talking about can a saved person forget the voice? Can a saved person fall into these damnable heresies? Look at verse number 18 of 2 Peter chapter two. So here we have the false prophets. We got the false teachers there amongst you. Just picture this, all right? Look at verse 18. It says for when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure, look at this, through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. What did they allure these people into? Let's reverse number 19. While they promised them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption. They themselves meaning the false prophets. For, look, you already have liberty. Nobody needs to promise you liberty. For of whom a man has overcome of the same he has brought into bondage. So what they will do is they will come into the church and they will present this false doctrine and they will allure people with the lusts of the flesh and the wantonness of the world. And they will draw people using those tactics, promising those people liberty. Hey, you don't wanna be in this restrictive Christian lifestyle. You don't wanna do all these standards in your life. You can go out and do these things and look, I have a different interpretation of this and you don't need to be separated from all these things. And they will convince people and draw people into those things, into those what? The lusts of the flesh and the wantonness of the world. And they will promise liberty, but they'll bring what? They'll bring bondage. You already have liberty in Christ. No one can promise you something that you already have. They're gonna bring those people. If you put yourself in, if you put sin in control of your life, I've said this a billion times, you are willingly putting yourself into bondage when you are free. You are free from sin. Sin has no power over you as they say believer. So somebody that is coming and selling freedom to you, you're like, what are you talking about? Are you got it for free? Like somebody trying to come and sell you a car when you have the nicest car you could possibly have and you didn't pay anything for it. But this is what they will do. They will promise the saved person something that they already have that will give them the exact opposite by teaching false things. Look at verse 20. It says, This is not saying they're going to hell. It's saying that what they get entangled in, what the lusts of the flesh, the wantonness of the world will be worse than when it was when they came out of it. Do not miss that. What's it talking about here? What's it talking about here? Is it talking about the lusts of the flesh? Is it talking about the lusts of the flesh? Is it talking about the lusts of the flesh? Is it talking about the saved believer forgetting the voice of Jesus Christ? No. Is it talking about the saved believer going into damnable heresy? No, it is talking about the saved believer being entangled with the pollutions of the world. That is what happens to the backsliding Christian. They don't fall into damnable heresy. They get entangled with the pollutions of the world, with the lusts of the flesh. This is the most common thing that you will see amongst Christians. Look at verse 21, it gets worse. For it had been better. It had been better for them to not know the way of righteousness. Then after that they have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them, to turn from the holy what? The commandments, the works, the law. This is what we're talking about. This is a Christian that is scammed, that is tricked by this false teacher that came into the church telling them to throw off their Christian life. He was fooled by it and the Bible is saying that it would have been better if he would have not known the commandments in the first place, then for him to know them and throw them off and go break them anyway. And we tell you something, turn to Hebrews chapter 10, this is true. It's not talking about he would be better if he never got saved. It's talking about it would be better if he never knew the commandment, if he never knew the law. Because look, you get saved. It doesn't mean you know an inch of the Bible. And if you get saved, somebody gets saved at the door or when you got saved, if you'd never been in church and never learned the Bible, you don't know anything other than the simplest thing in the Bible which is the gospel. Look at Hebrews chapter 10 of verse number 26. But then when you start to grow and you start to learn, I'm gonna tell you about the corner that you're painting yourself in this evening. When you start to grow and you start to learn the commandment, you start to learn the law. Look at verse 26 of Hebrews chapter 10. For if we, and look, people will apply this to salvation and they're all mixed up and messed up. You gotta find a way to interpret these parables that matches the doctrine of the Bible. There's only one way to correctly make the whole Bible make sense. That's why like when I got saved and I was like, oh, it's a gift and you can't lose it, all of a sudden everything in the Bible made sense because it is literally the only doctrine, the only gospel that can be preached where all of the Bible fits together perfectly. Otherwise, you're all mixed up. You read things like this and you're just like, what in the world am I saved or not and what? I mean, but look at Hebrews chapter 10, verse number 26. Now that we know, we're talking about saved people who that when they learn the commandment and then they get tricked to fall away and go back into the world, it'll be worse for them out there. Why? For if we sin willfully after we've received the knowledge of the truth, there's the knowledge of the commandments right there. There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. What does that mean? It means when you go out and you throw off the commandment as a saved believer and you go out and start willfully sinning, Jesus isn't gonna come and die for you again. It's just punishment time. That's what the Bible is telling you here. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. God's gonna be mad at you which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Look, I mean, this is, this is talking about the chastisement of the believer here. It's a serious thing. I mean, all those people that died, that God killed, like a lot of those, I mean, I'm sure they're in heaven, most of them. I don't, I mean, I don't know who was saved and who wasn't, but I'm sure the majority of the children of Israel were saved. But they died under two or three witnesses. Now how it's sore punishment, suppose ye, meaning you, the church, the people I'm talking to right now, shall he be thought worthy who had trodden underfoot the Son of God. And it counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified and unholy thing and had done despite unto the spirit of grace. This is the answer to somebody that, you know, the Catholic that you preach, and I said this myself the first time I heard the gospel, the Catholic that you preach to and they say, you can't tell people that. You can't tell people that it has nothing to do with works and they can never lose it. People will go nuts. People will just take advantage of this grace. Oh yeah, we'll reverse 29. It's saying, God is gonna come down on you and is going to chastise you if you take advantage of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. If you take advantage of this gift of eternal security, you're gonna pay. You're gonna pay on this earth. For we know him that says, vengeance long as to me, I will recompense, say it to the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge the unsaved. The Lord shall judge his people on this earth. He will judge you. He will punish you. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living of God. Look, falling away for the Christian. Many times we call it backsliding, but just say falling away from the Christian life. Falling away for the Christian has to do with the lusts of the flesh. It's not, it doesn't have to do with what that Christian truly believes. It has to do with the world, the wantonness of the lusts of the flesh and the pollutions that are out there. That's what it means to fall away. And there's nothing but fiery indignation for the Lord for that person. I mean, examples of this. Examples of this are people that could come in and teach, you know, come into a church and teach, well, you know, Christians can drink. You know, the pastor's misinterpreting that. Christians, it's okay if Christians drink in moderation and alcohol is not that big of a deal. Let me tell you something. I've seen Christians that have struggled with alcohol and drugs. And then they get sucked away by somebody that teaches them that doctrine. And it is terrible, terrible. I mean, crazy. Like way worse than it ever was before. And there's nothing but fiery indignation from the Lord on top of them. But it doesn't have anything to do with what they truly believe. It's just what they're giving into. Somebody comes in here and says, well, you know, what the Bible says about divorce, that's not really, you know, that's a little over the top. That there's really no justification for divorce in modern times. This, it's only fornication. I think fornication and adultery are, they're pretty much, they're the same thing. I think divorce is okay in these different cases. That's what I think. And they lead people down a path to think that divorce is okay. This is a kind of, this is a kind of false doctrine that leads people, because you know what, what if you got a few people in the church who aren't really happy in their marriage at the time? What if you got a big church and some false teacher comes in and starts throwing doubt on what the Bible says about divorce? You know what that does? That allows those people that are wanting a reason to be divorced and not wanting a reason to just follow the commandment. It just opens this door for them to follow the lust of the flesh. And that's how Christians get drawn away and that's how Christians fall away. But they're still gonna know that divorce is wrong. They're still gonna know. Why? Because, because they knew. And once you know, you can't forget the voice. That's what Jesus is saying in verse number four in verse number five. Turn back to John chapter 10. Turn back to John chapter 10. The save, now the other one, so I mean basically the Bible is very clear. Go back to John chapter 10, let's finish this concept up. So falling away is just a Christian being convinced of or convincing themselves or allowing themselves to follow their lust, their worldliness and you know, false teachers are many times a primer of that. By the way, you know, if somebody starts coming in and teaching false teachings around here like that, you know, the pastor would like to know. I mean many times I do know, but if somebody starts like saying things that were, you're like, that doesn't seem like the voice. The pastor would like to know that stuff. And it's good to bring those things up because look, those are the type of things that need to be handled quickly and sharply in a church. I mean the Bible is saying these people are gonna be here. Over and over again, they're gonna be amongst us. Okay? John chapter 10, look at verse number 26. Jesus says this, he says, but you believe not because you're not of my sheep as I said unto you. Look at verse 27, he says my sheep, again, he says my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. This is like the strongest eternal security verse in the Bible in my opinion, these next few verses. My father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand. I and my father are one. My sheep hear my voice, he gives them eternal life, they shall never perish. So the answer to somebody that says, you know, what about if you stop believing is like you won't stop believing. If you're truly saved, you will never, you will never forget the voice of the shepherd. You will, I mean, you will always know the voice. Turn to Matthew chapter 13. Turn to Matthew chapter number 13. Let's just look at the parable of the sower just real quickly, I don't have a ton of time here, but just to get through this last, this last, you know, section here, I wanna read the parable of the sower and just like show you that really applying it, it mostly applies to save people, the parable of the sower. It's just talking about people that are saved and then fall away to one degree or another. So it mostly applies to save people except in one obvious case. Look at Matthew chapter 13 and look at verse number three. It says, you spake many things under them in parables saying, behold a sower went forth the sower. Again, a parable and when he sowed some seeds fell by the wayside and the fowls came and devoured them up. So that's the first one, the wayside. Verse five, some fell upon stony places, the seeds, where they had not much earth and forthwith they sprung up. So they did grow, but they had no deepness of verse and when the sun was up they were scorched because they had no root and they withered away. And some fell among thorns and the thorns sprung up and choked them and the other fell into good ground and brought forth and this is the key of the whole parable right here in verse number eight. It says, other fell into good ground and brought forth fruit some in hundred fold, some 60 fold and some 30 fold who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And then, you know, everyone's confused and then he explains it in verse number 18. He says, you know, what's what. So even trying to just like apply who is saved in the parable of the sower, it's not the point of the parable. The point of the parable is who's gonna bear fruit? That's the point of the parable. Look at verse 18. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower and now he's gonna explain it to his disciples. When anyone hear at the word of the kingdom and understand it not, then come at the wicked one, Satan, and catcheth away which was sown in his heart, this is he which recede the seed by the wayside. So this is somebody that, the seed is the word of God, he explains. This is somebody that hears the word of God and just like, they just don't even, it was like, whatever. And just like, it's just taken away by Satan right away. So the wayside, those people, I mean, if you wanna apply salvation to the people, I mean, they're people that just never got saved. Verse 20. But he received the seed in stony places, the same as he that hear at the word and anon with joy received it. Saved. This is somebody that got saved. Verse 21. Yet he had no root in himself. But dureth for a while, for when by tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by, he is offended. So this is somebody that, this is the bottle rocket Christian right here. This is somebody that gets saved, gets in church, they grow a root real quick and they just like, they shoot off into the, and then they just pop, they're done. This is the Christian that is just, that's why I like, hey, take the easy stuff first and grow and get some roots that are deep. Don't be this weed that is just like, you think you know the entire Bible when you've read it one time and you're just like, what? And then you just fall out of the Christian life. Look at verse 22. He that receive a seed among the thorns is he that heareth. Look, verse 21 is clearly somebody that is saved. It is somebody that just, when they have a little bit of pressure put on them, they get out of the Christian life. Many people that are saved never even get into the Christian life. So if you don't think that the person in verse number 21 is applying to somebody who is saved, I mean, what do you think if somebody doesn't come to church, they're not saved? It's workspace salvation. Verse 22, he that receive the seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and it becomeeth unfruitful. So again, this is somebody that is saved. They've received the word. They're doing what they're supposed to do. They're fruitful. They're actually bearing fruit. But then they get caught up in what? The lust of the flesh. The wantonness of the world. The pollutions that are out there in the world. That's the thorns. This is one of the most common ones that you will see that pulls people out of the Christian life in America in 2024. It's just the desires of the world around us. And then verse 23 is who we all wanna be. He that receive seed into good ground is he that heareth the word. Understandeth it. Bears fruit. Look, the stony place has got this far. He bringeth forth fruit, some in hundred fold, some 60, some 30. He stays with it. He continues to grow and grow and grow. And what does that mean? It means it's a study and fruitfulness of the Christian. That's what it is. I mean the first one where like the devil just, I mean it's kind of an explanation that just not everybody's gonna get saved. But this is a study in how to become, I mean so to just sit here and just study, you have to understand what I'm trying to say about parables here. To look at the parable that so are and say, that guy's saved, that guy's not saved. That guy said, no, it is an application on how to be a fruitful Christian. That is what the parable is for. It is for the saved believer to read this parable and understand the things that are going to stop you and pull you out of the Christian life. That is the application for the parable of the so are. So that's the first scenario. That's all that to say is that's the first scenario is just this idea that Christians can fall away. Christians can backslide. And of the two scenarios that I'm gonna give you tonight, this is the most common one. And I don't like that it's common, but it is the most common one of the two that we will see. And you, look, I will guarantee you, if you haven't already, you will see this. You will see it here. I don't like that, but you will. So just prepare for that. It's the most common thing that you'll see and you will see it in your Christian life. If you've been in the, if you're gonna be somebody who's rooted in the Christian life, you will see people backslide. Look, I don't like it. I don't condone it. I don't want people to do it, but it's just, it's just what we're being told here. All right, here's the second scenario. Here's the second scenario that is not as common. It is not nearly as common. The second scenario is this. What about somebody who's in church, who's amongst the brethren, and suddenly they leave church and they become a Catholic? These type of people are very rare and maybe you won't even meet one of these people in just once every several years. You'll see these people online. You'll see these people railing against Christians, railing against Bible-believing Christians online. Oh, I used to be a Baptist, but I'm a Mormon now. You know, I'm some kind of, I'm a Scientologist now, but I used to be a Baptist. Like you can find these needles in the haystack. You say like, how did that happen? Turn to James chapter five. So again, backsliding, common. This one, not very common at all. And I've brought up the thought experiment. It just to show you how uncommon it is and how many soul winners that we send out in this church, churches like ours, nobody comes back a Mormon. Nobody comes back, you know, believing in works-based salvation. Nobody comes back a Buddhist or a Hindu or a Sikh, or it never happens ever. So that's a proof of how rare this is. You say, well, how could that happen? I'm gonna explain that to you. Look at James chapter five. Look at verse number 19. James chapter five, look at verse 19. The Bible says, brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him, again, he's talking to a group of people and look at verse number 20. Look, what he's saying is anyone amongst you, you can never really know is what he's saying. Look at verse 20. He says, let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins. This is talking about somebody that is, you know, amongst the church that is not saved, somebody gets that person saved, they've saved their soul from death, literally. And hides a multitude of sins. Look, their sins are now covered is what this means. Turn to first John chapter two. First John chapter two. So again, it is saying that there could be people amongst us that don't believe the true gospel. You get these churches that where the pastor or the new pastor that comes in into a Baptist church starts preaching repent to your sins, what you're gonna end up with is you're gonna end up with a remnant of the church that is saved and you're gonna end up with all the new people that come in that are not saved. You're gonna end up with this weird mix of saved and unsaved people that believe two totally different gospels. It's crazy that that could happen, but it happens. It happens. Look at first John chapter two and verse number 19. The second scenario, verse number 19 is summed up right here. It says they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us, but they went out that it might be made manifest that they were not all of us. The point is, Judas Iscariot was one of these. He was an unbeliever amongst the believers. So it's a rare thing, but we could have an unbeliever that is in the church for a long time. Somebody that just doesn't believe. Maybe they're here for dark reasons. Maybe they're here for just for the friendships or whatever, but the point is the Bible is clearly saying that there will be people amongst us that are not of us. It can happen. It were being warned of it. So if you have situations where somebody leaves the church that you thought was a brother, you know that you thought was saved, then they go off and become a Mormon. Look, the only explanation for that is that they were never saved. If they fall into that kind of heresy, because the Bible clearly teaches that when you know the voice, you know the voice. You will not forget the voice. And that is really the application. So I mean, when you see these people online or whatever they are that are just like railing against, you know, fundamental Baptist and I used to be fundamental Baptist and all this. And then there are some atheists or heretic of some kind. They were just never saved. And look, there's a lot of people in a lot of different churches even that have the name Baptist on them where they're just not saved. If you don't believe that, you're not a soul winner. I mean, you know, being Baptist, having Baptist on the name of your church, unfortunately it doesn't mean much anymore. I mean, you see, I mean, certain Baptist churches in town will have a majority of saved people, but you'll find unsaved people when you're knocking doors just about every Baptist church that you knock on doors. So there's a lot of people out there like that, but they were just never, they were just never saved. And that's totally believable. And luckily that's the minority of these situations that we're looking at. But look, the real application for us is the backslidden, is the fallen away and the dangers of that. Because being backslidden, you know, falling away from the faith, it's just sin. It's just works being fallen away. And look, the worst parts of, you know, turn to John 14, verse number 26. We'll finish up here in just a few minutes, but the worst part of the fallen away Christian, and this is what should really scare you, the worst part of the fallen away Christian is this, look at John 14 and verse number 26 just to back up that you will never forget the voice of your Savior. We'll get verse number 26. It says, but the comforter, which is what? The Holy Ghost, who has the Holy Ghost in them? Somebody that is saved is sealed by the Holy Ghost. You're a temple of the Holy Ghost. You have that down payment of the Holy Ghost in you whom the Father will send in my name. He shall teach you all things. That's the only way you can understand the Bible. When you're reading the Bible, you're sitting there with the Holy Spirit. And look, look at this, look at this. He will teach you all things. So you will learn the commandment. You will learn the law through the Holy Spirit. You and the Holy Spirit can understand the Bible. You sit down with the Bible. You and the Holy Spirit can figure it out and understand it, but look at this. He will bring all things to your remembrance. Whatsoever I have said unto you. Oh, I think about this a lot. I think about this a lot. This verse is the driving factor on why I moved from North Dakota to California. You say, what? I literally said it to my wife. I literally said to my wife, you know, here's the thing. None of this makes sense. None of this makes sense. When I look at the wantonness around me, when I look at the things around me, when I look at the lusts of the flesh, when I look at all the careers and the businesses and all these things, none of this makes sense. But here's what does make sense. I can't unknow what I know because you will always be brought. Look, I could have stayed there, but I would be brought into remembrance every hour of every day. What a life. What a life. That would have been. Look, you will always remember. That should be motivation to never backslide. It's been said that this Christian life is either forward or backwards. This is motivation for forward because the more forward you go, the worse backward will be. Why? Because you will always remember. It would be better, it would be better to have not known than to go and to know and then to go back on it. Because you will always, look, yes, the punishment is worse. I get that. And hopefully you get that too. But here's the worst thing about it. You know. You know. I mean, you fall back. You fall back into that bottle, into those drugs and you know during that time. I mean, is that enjoyable? I mean, you fall back into the music. You fall back into the media. You fall back into the smut and you know. You know. Because you will constantly be brought into remembrance by the Holy Spirit that is still there, that is still with you and that is never gonna leave you. You fall back into that life and it's worse than ever before. And you know. Talk about the haunted Christian life. Here's another thing. You got into the Christian life when you were 25, when you were 30 and you hit that thing hard for two years. You hit that thing hard for one year, six months, whatever it was. And then you fall out. You backslide. And you know what? You know that it's all downhill from here. Look, you don't have to stay back slidin'. You can always get right. That's why it's supposed to be so bad because God wants you to get right. But the point is, you backslide and how would it be like living that haunted Christian life where you know that the best you ever had was when you were 25 or when you were 35 or when you were 45. And it's all downhill from here. And you know what? You will know. Turn to Matthew chapter six. You will never forget the voice and you will know. I remember my wife and I in Sacramento, we met a lady out soul-winning and she was saved. And we didn't even know much about this lady. I mean, my wife knew when she gave her the gospel or asked her how she knew she was goin' to heaven. She knew that the lady, she was an older lady and she knew that she wasn't all there but she knew, oh no, I'm goin' to heaven. I trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ. She knew she was saved. And we picked her up for church a couple of times. She never, she didn't remember our name every single time that we picked her up. She had alcohol dementia, the neighbor told us. She couldn't remember the neighbor could introduce themselves to that lady and 20 minutes later they'd have to introduce themselves to her again, but she knew. She never forgot that she was saved and she never forgot why she was saved. Everything was gone up here but that voice was still there. She knew. Matthew chapter six, look at verse number nine. This is why Jesus tells us this. Look, getting saved in church life, in church life you could meet bad people because getting saved doesn't make you a good person. Getting saved doesn't give you good character. You could meet bad people. And look, people can backslide and go back into that life, that bad life, whatever it was and they could live the haunted Christian life as long as they're on this earth. Because you know what? They'll always know, they'll always know. Look at Matthew chapter six. Now hopefully we see now why Jesus is giving a couple of warnings here in Matthew chapter six, verse number nine. This is the Lord's prayer. This is actually some great advice from Jesus that is kind of ruined for me as a vain repetition when I was younger because you just repeat something over and over and over and over again and it loses all meaning. Look at verse number nine. It says, after this manor pray ye, our Father, he's saying ask for these things. He's given us a methodology here. He's not saying chant these words over and over. He literally says don't do vain repetitions like two verses before this. After this manor pray ye, our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, for thy kingdom come, thy will be done as on earth, in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. But look at this, forgive us our debts and forgive us our debtors. And look at this. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever saying, you have the power Lord, please help us not to be dragged down by these people, by these evil people that would come in to subvert us and drag us into the lust of the flesh and the wantonness of the world and the pollutions of the world. Help us. You know what he's saying? He's saying keep us from temptation, keep us from the evil that can drag us into this haunted Christian life. Keep this stuff away from us. Help us to be strong. Help us to listen, not just know the voice, but listen to the voice. He's explaining in Matthew chapter six that the danger is still there. That there's danger all around us. He's trying to convince us to protect our Christian life. And look, protect it from yourself. Protect it from those things around you because look folks, you will never not know the voice. You may go off and do whatever and do all these different stupid things and get into bad things worse than you ever did before, but you will always know the voice if you're saved. And that's what Jesus was getting at. Let's bow our heads and have a word.